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After a harrowing adventure, Brynn makes it back to the Safe Zone gates, worse for wear but thankfully amidst friendly faces once more.

Date

March 31, 2018

Safe Zone Gates

The walk was nothing short of agonizing. Despite having landed in a place where she could see the wall of the Safe Zone, it wasn't in a place where the actual gates were accessible. The walk around to the entryway where she will be allowed back inside the Zone is hellaciously long… and the deaf teen is hurt. She's not sure how badly, but she knows enough first aid from her years with Brian to know that it's not good, even if it's not lethal. Her insides are at the very minimum bruised to hell.

She looks exhausted when she hits the gates, and her signing is jerky and uncoordinated as she leans on the wall. The guard is peering intently at the identification card that lists her as a Zone resident, and he calls over to another man, "Hey Mike! You better come here — I don't know whether to let this kid in or not. And I can't ask her nothin' — she's waving her hands around and shit."

Ygraine is also returning to the comparative civilisation of the Zone from the wilds beyond, half her attention on a notepad as she strides towards the gates - trusting in her ability to alert her should she veer too close to a building or a vehicle. She's clad in black with a couple of blue highlights, with a sidearm in a flap-covered holster strapped to one thigh. Her long braid - black, save for the warm blue of the last 18" - hangs free down her back, swaying in counterpoint to the steady rhythm of her gait. Distracted as she is, it takes a few moments for the raised voice and help-requesting tone of the voice ahead to register with her… but when it does, she looks up, brows arching as she tries to figure out quite what's going on.

When she spots Brynn, she double-takes, stares for a moment, then stuffs her notepad into a sidepocket of her jacket and picks up the pace. Forcing herself to keep it down to a jog, lest the guards interpret a flat run as a hostile approach, she raises a hand to draw (hopefully peaceful) attention to her approach.

On the inside of the gates, Cesar takes a moment to stretch out his legs during a late morning run. Weekends are for down time, and the run's helping with clearing his mind, or in some cases like the one on it, processing the thoughts he has about the food theft earlier in the month. Pushing away the worry that another theft may be imminent.

But there's a second reason why he's near the gates, and it's to observe the coming and going of people. The guards are left alone to do their job, but the agent can't help but overhear one calling over to the other about a kid. He looks over at the gates, but the blue off of Ygraine's braid catches his eye. Then, the sidearm holster on her thigh. Though not unusual to see people with firearms, it brings a cautious wariness up in the agent and he starts over towards the gate as well.

The guard — apparently 'Mike' — ambles over. "She got an ID, you let her in, shit-for-brains," he retorts. He frowns slightly at the sight of the petite teen, brows pulling together over his nose. He's not old, but he's not green either. "Hey, kid… you okay?"

Movement in the periphery of his vision brings his head up and he notes the approach of a couple of people. He holds up hand to forestall Ygraine and Cesar from interfering. "Everything's good, folks, go on about your business."

Brynn leans her head back against the wall wearily, watching the guards wrangle. She has her arm curled in to rest against her stomach and although the guards have her full attention, she's not quite following what's happening. There's clearly some kind of issue, but she's struggling to focus on what it is.

Ygraine slows her approach, and - with the care of someone keen not to get shot by US law enforcement - peels back one side of her jacket, so that it can be seen she's dipping into an inner pocket rather than going anywhere near her gun. Extracting her own ID, she holds it up. "She's deaf. I know her. I speak a little ASL. I can try translating," she informs them, hoping that her decidedly foreign accent won't cause undue problems here. It's always a gamble as to whether it's irrelevant, enthused about, or taken as a reason to tell her to go home.

Once he's close enough to be within conversational rather than bystander distance, Cesar slows as well. He comes up beside Ygraine, giving the woman a quick nod of hello before looking back to the gate. Upon spotting Brynn and the mess of how she appears, his recognition is immediate. "Brynn?" It's followed by a low swear, and a push of the man forward disregarding the guard's order for him to stay back.

"This lady's in obvious need of medical attention, officers," he states firmly and with authority, the very sort of tone another officer of the law carries. "And if she's got a reg card, she's entitled to entry."

Exhausted gray eyes turn in the direction of the guard's hand when he seems to be motioning for someone to stop, and Brynn wilts in relief at a familiar face… a couple of familiar faces, when Cesar's pops into view as well. Tears flood her eyes, a hitch in her breathing though she manages not to sob outright. Her hands come up to sign. Thank God. Ygraine… help. I don't know where they are! I landed… She waves very generally out into the beyond of the city. They weren't with me and I don't know if they're okay! Although she knows Cesar can't sign, she lets Ygraine translate as she looks at the man. There's something out there. Someone. I think… I think he scared some people to death.

Her signs are still jerky and kind of strained, and her left hand doesn't look right — it's swollen and she's not moving as fluidly as usual. But her fear for the others is very clear.

Ygraine initially doesn't translate, instead peering intently as she tries to be sure that she's understanding things herself. "I…." She shakes her head slightly, then signs rapidly at Brynn. It's me. You are safe. You look hurt. Is it bad? Keeping her eyes on Brynn, she attempts a quick summary for the others. "She and some others came across something bad out there." She jerks her head in the direction of the (worse) ruins. "She doesn't know where the people with her are. And she thinks others might have died already."

Turning her gaze to the gate guards, she slightly holds up a hand. "Not your jurisdiction, I know. But it's why she's distressed and hurt." The mysterious law-like stranger, she leaves to decide for himself whether or not this might fall within his purview.

"Other than the question of why you were out there, I'm not going to worry about the details right now," Cesar says as he looks between Ygraine and Brynn to get the gist of the situation. But his attention largely stays on the military police, on Mike. "I'm with SESA," reveals Cesar after another pause to dig into a pocket. He pulls out the wallet to show his federal ID to the officers. And hopefully with that they'll relent.

Mike glances at the ID and simply shrugs. "Definitely your job. Good luck, man," he tells Cesar. He hands Brynn's ID to the SESA agent and herds his apparently green partner away from this situation, leaving it to the Feds.

Brynn's eyes flicker between all the of the people and she seems to relax just a little bit when the guards leave. She pushes off the wall where she was leaning, grimacing as she does. We have to find them, Yg, she signs. And then she looks at Cesar. Lance, Joe, and Eimi are out there somewhere… Eimi teleported all of us at once. I … don't think she's supposed to do that. She stops signing and struggles to get her tears under control. Now that there are other people, the shock itself is beginning to really set in and she's shaking.

Ygraine shoots Cesar a look of mild surprise when he identifies his employer, then relaxes a touch as the military police withdraw from involvement. For Brynn, she finds a wan smile. I'll look. I promise. But you need to show me where you hurt. If the colours are too amazing, then you're in trouble. Bruising, I know you can live with. But internal bleeding would mean I have to get you to a hospital. But you know a SESA Agent, huh?

The man in question receives a (somewhat belated) nod of greeting. "Ygraine FitzRoy. If you know Brynn, then you probably know at least two of the people who're missing: Lance and Joe. Also someone called 'Eimi', who's not familiar to me. She's apparently a teleporter, who… overtaxed herself getting them all out of somewhere in a hurry. Brynn talked earlier of 'landing' on her own. They were fleeing someone she thinks might have frightened multiple people to death." From her tone, she thinks that this might be of rather direct interest to the Agent.

"Officers," Cesar says to the pair with a short nod of farewell. Tucking his wallet back in to his pocket, he frees up his hands for the next matter - supporting Brynn. "Whoa there, hang on, let's get you somewhere where you can sit or something."

Ygraine's introductory greeting gets a quick nod in return, but he doesn't really respond to the news of some missing people until he's got a handle on Brynn. A belated reaction to the names, all three of them familiar, turns his features into a frown. "Yeah, haven't met all but Eimi," he says, "but there's a lot of bad news out past the walls, and right now, we've got to take care of her, first. Give me a hand?" He tilts his head to indicate Ygraine could take up the other side of the girl. "If we can get to a spot where I can get some reception, I'll call in an ambulance."

Finally… finally, she feels safe enough to let people into her personal space. She lets herself lean on both of them, unable to answer Ygraine's query about how badly she's hurt yet. It's bad enough that she's letting people help her, which isn't exactly her norm — usually she's far more standoffish. Her movements are stiff, but she can walk. Still, it's clear that she's in pain. The shaking is evident to them both, and now that her hands are more clearly visible, the swelling on the one seems to be due to a dislocated thumb.

Ygraine is actually relieved to see that hurt thumb - it suggests that there's at least a chance that Brynn was cradling a wounded limb rather than using that limb to cradle serious internal injuries. "Oh, Brynn," she sighs quietly, before looking across the younger brunette at Cesar. "Would it be worthwhile trying to use your badge to gain access to a radio or a landline? If need be, I can carry her while you're being official at people. I can also try some first aid, though a proper kit for that would be welcome. I've only got what fits into a belt-pouch, with me."

On one side of Brynn, Cesar keeps a steadying hand. "Unfortunately, landlines aren't connected up as much as we'd like," he replies to Ygraine, though the former suggestion gets a thoughtful glance back at the MPs. He eventually shakes his head slightly, and looks back to the two women. "If you can hang on, maybe have a seat over there, I'm pretty sure I've got a few bars." He indicates with a gesture of a free hand to a shaded spot out of the way, still in view of the gates. "I'll be right back, alright? Sit tight."

Once he's made sure they're both ok, Cesar jogs off with cellphone in hand and looking to the screen.

Lowering herself slowly to a sitting position — and she's clearly in significant pain as she does it — Brynn lays back against the low wall they're using. She couldn't follow any of the conversation that went on verbally, too focused on remaining upright and walking properly, but now that she's leaned back and able to stop moving, her gaze flickers back and forth between them. Cesar's departure brings a frown to her face and she seems relieved when he at least remains within sight. To Ygraine, she signs, Where is he going? Is he going to try to find the others? They're not in …. well, they might be in Zone, I don't know. She worries at her lower lip some. Ygraine, whatever — whoever — is out there, it's really bad… what if it's got them?? Joe usually can't get too hurt, but Lance and Eimi… She pauses. I don't think it's just bruising, she admits finally. It hurts too much.

"Oh, Brynn," Ygraine sighs worriedly - though she finds an encouraging smile for the youngster. The Agent is going to try his phone. He wants to get an ambulance for you. I could try putting your thumb back where it's supposed to be. And I could have a look at where you're hurt. But only if you want me to. The others… we can try looking for them. He - she nods in Cesar's direction - should be able to find out if anyone has been found turning up out of thin air, for one thing. Maybe see if anything's known about a maker of fears, too.

Off in near distance, snatches of Cesar's conversation can be heard. Ygraine can hear it, rather. Brynn merely sees the animated movements when the conversation is less than satisfactory for the man.

"This is Agent Diaz with SESA… at gate number… young woman, injured outside the Zone, possibly internal bl… -cal attention, if you could send… what do you mean… How many minutes? No, no that's… No she's not able to… No, you need to send one. She's Registered… Yes, fine. …Okay. We'll make our way there."

Hanging up, Cesar jogs back, slowing when he approaches the pair. There's something of an apologetic expression as he informs, "We're going to have to walk a ways. They're sending a car, but, saying they can't spare one past the next borough." His mouth pulls into a taut line as he looks over Brynn again. "Do you think you can walk?"

My chest and my stomach both hurt, the teen admits. When she 'ported us, if felt like things were… ripping. Brynn lifts the hem of her hoodie and the shirt beneath it so that Ygraine can take a look at the discolored skin along her side. The teenager can't begin to determine whether it's actually bad or not. She then offers her hand to Ygraine — she could put the thumb back in on her own, but honestly it hurts so damn much to do it that she didn't want to black herself out before she got back.

Gray eyes follow Ygraine's movements up until the wet *snap* that accompanies at least the repair of the minor injury. And by the time Cesar rejoins them, the teenager is merely waiting. At his query, she nods firmly. Signing is still stiff and disjointed, but she tells the man, I've walked this far, I can get wherever we need to go. Made of stern stuff, this quiet young woman. Benefits of growing up in a war, one might suppose.

I can carry you, if you need it at any point, Ygraine informs Brynn, her expression intent. Then she nods to Cesar - addressing him, but making sure that Brynn can see her face as she talks. "If things get too tough, I can carry her. My ability lets me cheat a little." A glance to Brynn, then she sighs worriedly, and looks back to the Agent. "She says that when they were teleported that last time, to get them out of danger, it felt as if things were ripping. It doesn't look catastrophic, but there's clear discolouration on the surface."

Reaching out, she lightly pats Brynn's knee in a worriedly affectionate gesture, before signing again - this time accompanying the ASL with the equivalent English words. While we walk, would it help if you told us about what happened? Or do you need all your breath for moving?

"Oh, you're SLC-Expressive?" Cesar cants his head at Ygraine, his initial reaction probably quite telling of his decidedly non-Evolved person. It's probably a look both women have received and recognized. After all these years he's still working on the surprise reflex. Clearing his throat lightly, he nods slowly to the Ygraine, but then looks back to Brynn and shakes his head a little given that he doesn't know sign language. "I told you to stay out of trouble, didn't I?" he chides lightly to the younger woman. "Alright come on, let's get you back up." And he moves to help, gently steadying.

Back on Ygraine though, he nods gratefully for what she provides in translation and support. "So, what's your superpower?" It sounds a little cheesy, although he sounds like he's trying to keep the mood light and distracting for Brynn's sake.

Before she lets them help her up again, Brynn pulls the small notebook from her jacket pocket that she keeps for communicating with non-signers. She doesn't bother with a pen, using her power instead to write on the page, Whatever was down there, it killed at least 5 other people. Some time ago. She looks up to Cesar to make sure he sees it, then continues. Someone was there. He moved from shadow to shadow. He's watching now, I can feel it on the back of my neck. Kids raised in wartime do *not* ignore these warning signs. He might be telepath or something. It took a long time to get this far — maybe three hours or more. She looks disgusted — she can usually cover ground a hell of a lot faster than that. I don't think I was more than a couple miles from the wall, but I had to come around it to the gates. We have to find them. They might be hurt even worse than me, she insists.

Only then does she shove the notebook in her pocket and hold out her arms to let them help her back to her feet. Brynn is not going to forget that her brothers and their friend are still out there, and to her it's urgent. Se as to pause once she gains her feet, trying to breathe slowly and not cry; she doesn't realize she hasn't stopped crying since Ygraine and Cesar found her.

Ygraine is very clearly worried… but wartime taught her to make sure that the wounded friend in one's hands survives before others in unknown locations are sought for. She pays close attention to Brynn, gently ushering her along… while ready to take the girl fully into her arms at a moment's notice, and trusting to Cesar to figure out a search protocol of some sort. "Yes, I'm a mutant," she assures him - finding a smile and wink, at least partly for Brynn's benefit. "Instructor-certified, if that helps to reassure you. I'm… ahh, it's a bit complex. Or very simple. I can alter what is 'down' for something. I don't generate or negate force: just redirect it. So if I pick up Brynn, then her whole weight settles onto me - she doesn't pull me over to one side or another, or wear out my arms, or whatever. Or we can take short-cuts across stretches of wall rather than having to work around rubble in the street, or other things. But in this part of town, we shouldn't need to worry about that."

Only the pair get to see Cesar's rather honest reaction to the way words just appear like magic ink on the notepad Brynn holds up for him to read. What awe there might be covers with concern for the contents of the writing. But he does nod to her, expression serious. "Once we have you safe and taken care of. And then we'll look for your friends," he says, keeping his statements simply so she can potentially read his lips. Otherwise, he leaves it to Ygraine to convey.

He doesn't expect the explanation of the other woman's power to be so verbose even in summary, and the man's brows lift for it. "So… Kinetic. Class-C. Got it," he claims as much. Though it's probably not that he does so much as again, he's just trying to keep it simple and light. There'll be plenty of time for discussion on the way to the stop where the hospital's car - an actual car rather than an ambulance, thus telling of the resources stretch - comes to pick up the trio and take them to Elmhurst.